Mise-En-Scene Research

Our children's film opening sequence genre is fantasy, and by researching the different areas of Mise-en-scene in other children's films such as costume, location, lighting and props, we can find out how to create a children's film feel.

COSTUME

The costumes which we are using in our children's film opening sequence vary. For character 1, the costume is ordinary casual clothes, to show that he is just a normal school pupil, and this adds to the children's film feel because it involves children and school, so children can relate to the situation of the film. Our second character is a mysterious character, either being a witch or cloaked character. This relates to children's fantasy film because there is usually an unrealistic character with magical powers. By looking at the costumes in the fantasy adventure film 'Charlie and The Chocolate Factory' we know which costumes will best represent our genre. For example each child wears typical casual clothing, such as jeans, tracksuits, and jumpers etc. This is also how our first character will be dressed, in normal everyday clothes because that is the norm of children. Also in this film is the wacky character 'Willy Wonka' who wears dark trousers and a slightly wacky jacket and hat which doesn't really reveal much of his character but shows he is a bit strange. He carries his trademark cane and wears his well known hat. This is similar to our children's film because our second character is like Willy Wonka, in being mysterious and introvert. Therefore our second character will wear dark and mysterious clothing.

LIGHTING

Lighting is a really important part of mise-en-scene and therefore has to be just right. For our production we will have to be careful and watching lighting conditions as most of the filming will be taking place outside in a dense wooded area. This means the lighting may be quite low in places so we must be careful to pick our final locations carefully to aviod under exposure in the frames. In addition because we are filming during there is generally cloud in the sky most of the time which may give some of our shots a dull and gray look to them, we can make up for this in the post productiuon stage by editing the footage and lighting it up. Another area to consider is when we do the inside shots. although its not as much of a problem as outside filming we have to balance out the tranistion shots when going from outside to inside to avoid to much unnecessary change in light conditions. When filming inside we should make sure the character's do not have their backs to the biggest light source as this can cast heavy unflattering shadows on the face, although this could be used to our advantage we want our shots to be clear, well lit and balanced.

PROPS

Props are the movable objects used in the construction of the mise-en-scene. Props are important because they help set the scene and portray the genre. The main props that we are using for our opening sequence are; a bike, a "magical" book, a school bag and a log. We are using the bike for the school boy to cycle home from school on. We chose to do this because it's just a bit more exciting rather than walking and just makes it a bit more interesting. We are using a "magical book" to fit in with the fantasy genre as this will make the film appear authentic. We will use the school bag to help portray that the character is on his way home from school as this will help show that the film it is a children's film. Finally we are using the log within the bike stunt scene. We are using it in order for the bike to fall over so that the story line makes sense (you wouldn't normally just trip on nothing!) and as the location is in a wooded area tripping over a log makes sense. All of our props together will help create our fantasy/adventure genre because...

LOCATION

Location is an important part of mise-en-scene, because it can help the viewer to understand the storyline. For example, in the film 'Twilight', the characters are often filmed in the woods. The genre of this film is fantasy and the woods setting helps to give a mysterious and adventurous feel to the film. In our childrens film opening sequence, the main location is also the woods. This is because we liked the idea of having a mysterious place because it makes the feel more magical, therefore conveying with the whole fantasy genre.

Charlotte, Graeme and Jamila.